Stand-Up-Paddling Africa to Americas

On December 6, 2016, Chris Bertish began the first ever, solo, SUP (Stand-up-Paddling) Trans-Atlantic Crossing. Paddling the equivalent of a marathon every day for 120 days, over 4500 nm (7500 km), Chris started his voyage in Agadir, Morocco with the intent to travel around the Canary Islands, across the Atlantic Ocean, towards the Leeward Island of Antigua in the Caribbean.

I just heard an interview he did from the middle of the ocean and I thought I should share it around! He had a close encounter with a Great White https://youtu.be/CIbhXbOHPYY

The craft itself is just under 20 ft/ 6m in length and when fully loaded with equipment and supplies, the craft weighs approximately 1,350 lbs/600 kilos. The deck of the craft is equipped with four ports that allows Chris to store all of his freeze dried meals and 50 liters of emergency water for the 120 days duration of the Sup Crossing. The emergency water on board will also act as moveable ballast for the craft as supplies are diminished.
The Sup Craft includes a rigging system for the use of a para-anchor, a specially designed parachute used under water. An anchor rode is attached to the parachute, tied off the bow of the craft and dropped into the water. The parachute opens up from the tug of craft as it’s pushed back by blowing wind or drift. The bow of the craft will automatically aligns itself into the wind and sea condition. Deploying the appropriate amount of anchor rode allows Chris, the craft and sea anchor to ride in unison on opposing waves. In these conditions it not uncommon for you to see Chris on the live tracker, going backwards or in circles. When the para-anchor is deployed, you will find Chris locked up in the watertight cabin and waiting for the conditions to change. Sometimes this last for days. So far in Chris’ voyage, he has been on the para-anchor quite a bit. When he approached the Canary Islands, Chris thought some type of marine life became caught up in the para-anchor and was trying to dive deeper and taking the Sup craft down with it.

Chris is doing this for charity (3 charities, all in South Africa, all aimed at impoverished school children) - Operation Smile (helping children with cleft lips/palates), The Lunchbox Fund (feeding school children who would otherwise go hungry), and Signature of Hope (building schools and just generally doing amazing work with impoverished school children). If you'd like to support the cause, check out this link http://www.thesupcrossing.com/donate/
You can track him live here http://www.thesupcrossing.com/live/
He posts to his Facebook here https://www.facebook.com/OfficialChrisBertish/
Good luck Chris, what a legend!!!